Traditionally, in mooring watercraft to a dock, various types of devices have been developed whereby the most simplistic comprises a rope that is tied between the boat and dock. Unfortunately, such lines do not prevent damaging collisions between the boat and the dock. It is also common that weather conditions; such as rough water, turbulent winds, and tidal changes; or boat wakes can buffet the boat forcefully against the dock, or even another watercraft. This is apt to cause serious and expensive damage to the boat and/or the dock. Similar damage often results when two or more boats are tied together, commonly referrer to as rafting.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a rigid watercraft standoff which will permit vertical movement of the watercraft only, thereby accommodating the dynamics of the water while preventing damage to the watercraft by maintaining a fixed distance between the watercraft hull and the mooring.
Conventional devices for mooring a recreational watercraft include bumpers or fenders, which may be attached either to the boat or to a dock, to prevent the boat from being damaged by hitting against the dock due to the action of wind, waves, and wakes. However, these bumpers can rub and/or scuff the boat often causing moderate, but permanent, damage to the boat.
In many situations, it is necessary to moor watercraft to a floating dock, where the wave dynamics become intense as the water becomes turbulent with high winds to the point where the dock and the watercraft undulate relative to each, but not necessarily in unison. In such situations, the watercraft could be damaged in the event that the gunwale of the watercraft rises higher than the dock thereby dislocating fenders onto the surface of the dock or in the alternative the watercraft hull becomes lower than the dock, thereby defeating the purpose of the fenders all together and exposing the watercraft to direct contact with the dock.
Other conventional docking/mooring devices include fiberglass or stainless steel poles permanently affixed to docks, to rigid posts that hold watercraft off and away from docks to which the watercraft is secured. Typically, in the cases where a pair of rigid parallel members is attached between the dock and the watercraft, an additional crisscrossed mooring line serves to restrain the watercraft from moving in a direction parallel to the dock.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a rigid mooring device using one or more rigid members to maintain a consistent horizontal position relative to the dock, without the use of the aforementioned crisscrossed mooring configuration or rigidly mounted members.
It is further desirable to provide a portable mooring device that will keep a boat at a fixed distance from a mooring dock, whether the dock is of the permanent or floating type, and which will allow movement of the boat in only the vertical direction as the watercraft reacts to wave action.
It is also desirable to provide a portable mooring device that can be used in attaching boats side by side, commonly referred to rafting-off.
Furthermore, it is desirable to provide a mooring apparatus that can be used effectively with various types of docks and watercraft, without requiring any alterations to either.
Moreover, it is desirable to provide a mooring apparatus that is portable and conveniently deployed and removed so that casting off a watercraft is readily and safely executed.
It is desirable to provide a mooring apparatus for boaters with very limited leased docking space.
It is also desirable to provide a mooring device for boats which is removable, and which can be used to secure a boat to a dock or another boat using the conventional cleats provided on docks and boats.
It is desirable to provide a multi-purpose pole to be used as a boat hook by a deck mate when navigating about a mooring, or another boat.
It is further desirable to provide a mooring device for boats which can be used to connect two boats stern to bow for towing.
It is desirable to provide a rigid mooring member system, which can be positioned to adapt to a range of lengths of watercrafts, and which can be used with a series of boat cleat configurations and sizes.